By Dr. Robert Hackman
The level of cholesterol in your blood is important, and keeping that level in a healthy range is part of a wellness lifestyle. High blood cholesterol, particularly when packaged as LDL cholesterol, can damage the smooth lining of your blood vessels, increase fatty plaque formation that clogs arteries, and increase one’s risk of a heart attack, a stroke or other cardiovascular crisis.
But cholesterol in food is not the same as cholesterol that clogs arteries. For most people, the amount of cholesterol eaten has a relatively minor impact on the amount of cholesterol circulating in the blood (1). Most of us make far more cholesterol in our bodies (specifically in our liver) than we get from the food we eat, and most of us trigger our liver to pump out cholesterol by eating saturated (animal) fats and trans fats, rather than from eating cholesterol-rich foods.
Egg consumption is a good example of how our understanding about nutrition and heart health has progressed. An egg contains roughly 200 mg of cholesterol (which is found in the egg yolk), and eating eggs was thought a few decades ago to be a major factor raising blood cholesterol levels. However, after 40 years of studies, we still don’t have any good evidence that eating eggs raises cholesterol levels in most people or is a contributing factor to heart disease.
Moderation is still important when it comes to dietary cholesterol intake. A recent study reported that eating an egg per day (up to 7 in a week) was generally safe for most people, but egg intake beyond this level was still considered a risk factor for heart failure (2).
While most people do not show much change in blood cholesterol levels after eating cholesterol-rich foods, about 30% of the population does respond. Especially for people who have difficulty controlling their blood cholesterol levels, or who have heart disease already, it is important to pay close attention to food choices and limit eating cholesterol-rich foods to no more than the equivalent of three egg yolks per week. A recent study reported that higher intakes of eggs and other sources of dietary cholesterol were associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death among older adults with type 2 diabetes (3), so moderation would be important for this group as well.
Practicing a healthy lifestyle, which includes wise food choices, consuming scientifically-based nutrition supplements, regular exercise and a good night’s sleep, is the best way to feel better, look better and perform better – When it comes to eggs, focus on the total meal, rather than just one food. While eggs are a good source of protein, and don’t affect blood cholesterol levels for most people, adding cheese, fried potatoes, or bacon or sausage can boost the intake of saturated fats and trigger a rise in blood cholesterol for most of us.
- Fernandez ML. Dietary cholesterol provided by eggs and plasma lipoproteins in healthy populations. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care 9:8-12, 2006.
- 2. Djousse L, Gaziano JM. Egg consumption and risk of heart failure in the Physicians’ Health Study. Circulation 117:512-6, 2008.
- Houston DK, Ding J, Lee JS. Dietary fat and cholesterol and risk of cardiovascular disease in older adults: the Health ABC Study. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 21: 430-7, 2011.
